Issue no. 29
In this edition
Saints Girls Thrive in Great Outdoors
This week, our Year 9 and 10 students have been sharing some incredible experiences together on camp.
The Year 9s have been exploring the Fleurieu Peninsula, while the Year 10s have been tackling the Flinders Ranges, with activities including rock climbing, mountain biking and bushwalking.
It’s all part of our robust Outdoor Education Program which develops resilience and tenacity in our girls, while also instilling the value of teamwork.
School camps like these often result in enduring friendships built on mutual experiences and memories that last a lifetime. Whether it’s the camaraderie of a singalong around a campfire or the satisfaction of abseiling down a sheer rock face, our girls move out of their comfort zones and push the boundaries, enhancing their self-awareness, respect for others and appreciation of nature.
Well done to all girls for challenging themselves throughout the week!
From the Head of Junior School
As an adult who remembers schooling in the 70s and 80s as being a markedly different experience than it is today, I am excited and fascinated by the incredible learning opportunities that our students are exposed to in the 2010s. I recall school as largely consisting of a series of roughly homogenous lessons. Generally, a teacher instructed the class as a whole before students simultaneously copied notes from the blackboard, answered a set of identical questions, solved some identical mathematics or science problems, or on the odd occasion when creativity was required, wrote a story. The infrequent ‘project’ was a highlight, requiring a trip to the newsagent for a large piece of cardboard, a visit to the local library for research material, the family’s Encyclopaedia Britannica collection being strewn across the dining room table, and an opportunity to use my prized set of 36 coloured Derwent pencils. I like to think my formative years weren’t all that long ago; however, they were in a time when our knowledge and understanding of the world was far more constant than it is today.
We now live in a fast-evolving world, and we are preparing our students for a future full of possibilities. In doing so, we are conscious of the need for our students to develop a wide range of strategies, skills and dispositions that will enable them to continually challenge their thinking, be willing to learn new things, stretch their potential and share their discoveries, thoughts and understandings in meaningful and engaging ways. In support of this, the Junior School embarked on a full 1:1 digital technologies program at the beginning of this year. Every Reception to Year 4 student now has sole use of a School-owned iPad, Year 5 and 6 students bring their own personal device, and we also provide sets of laptops for shared use. Our online learning management system, Canvas, is being used by teachers, students and parents to set and view learning tasks, check progress, share resources and celebrate learning. We have resourced our digital technologies program with a variety of coding, creativity and production apps and different types of robots, and students see all of these things as a natural part of their schooling.
Recently, I asked a group of students to tell me about the benefits that they see in using 1:1 digital tools. Their answers were both astute and varied, and I present some of them to you here.
“Learning with iPads is good because it’s easy to access information and you’ve got information with you all the time.” – Year 5
“Canvas is great because it is easy to show our parents our work and our teachers’ comments. It’s also good for catching up on work that you’ve fallen behind in.” – Year 5
“I love that we can choose how to present our work and we don’t all have to do it the same way. I might use Powerpoint, and other girls might make an iMovie, and our presentations look really professional so our audience is interested and entertained.” – Year 6
“When we use technology and Canvas, we can access our work at home, or anywhere.” – Year 4
“Watching BTN (Behind the News) on our iPads is great because we can each watch different parts of it again if we didn’t understand something the first time.” – Year 4
“We’ve used so many different apps. I liked using Popplet when we were working together to brainstorm ideas about mealworms. We could type our ideas and sort them into where they belonged.” – Year 2
“I liked telling our stories using stop-motion movies because you could see the characters moving and it’s good to tell stories in lots of different ways, not just writing.” – Year 2
“Using apps to help us learn in language classes is really helpful and much more fun than just having paper flashcards. The games give you instant feedback, you can challenge yourself, and they are enjoyable.” – Year 6
“When we do tests on the iPad, we get the results immediately so we know what we need to work on next.” – Year 6
“I like using Mathletics and Reading Eggs on my iPad. When you read a story, the iPad helps you read a word if you don’t know what it says.” – Year 1
“I’ve enjoyed the ways I’ve been creative in Art using Adobe Sketch as a new way to draw. If you make a mistake, you can use the back arrow or eraser. You can also do multiple layers and use a mixture of photos and drawing.” – Year 4
“I like taking photos of what I’ve been learning with my iPad and writing about it.” – Year 2
“We use our iPads to code the Lego robots and we work in pairs, so we have to collaborate.” – Year 4
If you are not yet a regular visitor to your daughter’s Canvas courses, please take a little time to enter via the myLink parent portal and have a look. Our teachers spend considerable time creating and uploading content for both students and parents, and I’m sure you will find it interesting viewing.
Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School
Staff vs Students Debate Entertains Yet Again!
What an amazing final Staff vs Students debate for 2017! With the staff and student teams each holding one win, this debate was the decider, with the topic being, “The use of social media should require a licence”. Although both teams put up a fantastic fight, the split decision from the adjudication panel eventually awarded the STUDENTS victory – congratulations to all those who have been involved across the three encounters! A special thanks must go to staff, students and Old Scholars who have given their time to judging these funny and entertaining debates.
In other debating news, two of our teams (Senior White and Year 9 White) have made the Grand Finals being held tomorrow in the House of Assembly at Parliament House. All teams have worked incredibly hard this season, but these two teams should be especially proud of this fantastic achievement.
We would love to see some friendly faces at the event; all are welcome, so please join us at 11am for the Year 9 debate and/or 2pm for the Senior debate. The topics are, “Free-range parenting is needed in Australia” for the Year 9s, and, “The parents of Charles Gard should have had the right to choose for their child” for the Seniors. These are undoubtedly going to make for some very interesting speeches, so please come and support our fantastic debaters!
A more in-depth review of the debating season will be provided in the next Enews.
Sophie Shearwood
Debating and Public Speaking Captain
A Little About Dance at Saints Girls
The Year 9 Dance program explores different styles including Contemporary, Jazz and Hip Hop. The students have been learning the basic techniques relevant to each dance style throughout the year. They have also had opportunities to perform class routines in Assembly and during the SACE Dance ‘RAW’ performance, which was a highly successful evening showcasing Dance from Years 9 – 12 and featuring music and drama performances as well.
The course also involves group composition work, which allows students to share their original ideas and create their own movement phrases. In addition, this term the Year 9 students attended a performance by the Sydney Dance Company – an experience which inspired many of them. The students have since analysed and evaluated this, writing insightful reviews of the choreography and production features. In the coming weeks, the Year 9 and SACE dancers will compete at the South Australian Stage Dancing Society competitions at Westminster School, which will provide them with another new performance experience.
Kate Burnett
Dance Teacher
‘Disney The Lion King JR.’ – Opening Night Less Than a Week Away!
It is an exciting time for our Year 5 students as opening night of ‘Disney The Lion King JR.’ draws closer. They have been working very hard on this production, and are looking forward to performing for their family and friends. If you haven’t booked already, why not come along to the newly available Friday matinee at 1.30pm?
The headdresses and costumes for the show are simply stunning; it will truly be a spectacle.
Ticket prices:
Adult $15
Student/concession $10
Family (2 adults/2 children) $35
Book now via www.trybooking.com/RGWU!
Kilburn House Dinner
The annual House Dinners organised by the Year 11 girls are certainly something every Saints Girl looks forward to. Creating a fancy dress costume to fit a theme and participating in a range of games makes the night plenty of fun!
Last Friday, a tribe of fantastical creatures including princesses, fairies, unicorns and elves made their way into an enchanted garden for Kilburn’s House Dinner. With such an incredible array of costumes, the Year 12s choice of best dressed for each year level proved to be very difficult!
The girls enjoyed a delicious meal of canapes, pizza, lollies and cake, served by a brilliant group of parent helpers, but still had time to dance to some great music and participate in a couple of quizzes.
The girls also participated in a range of games including pin the horn on the unicorn, guess the Year 12 baby and the donut game. A highlight of the night was definitely the bashing in of the piñatas! I would like to extend a special thank you to all of the Year 11 girls for their efforts in organising the food and games, and for providing such a beautiful set up. It made this final dinner one of my favourites and was a very memorable last one for the Year 12s.
I would also like to thank all of the parents who came along and supported the night. Their help to organise and prepare the food, and assistance when cleaning up was very much appreciated.
Sophie Freeman
Kilburn House Captain
Our Youngest Saints Girls Dancers
In Terms 2 and 3 this year, students in Reception and Year 1 participated in the Dance program with Kirsty Battersby.
During the sessions, the students focussed on performance and creation. The girls learnt warm ups, class dances and games to help develop body alignment, coordination, expression and performance skills. They created their own class dances using props, words, music and visual designs as a catalyst to create movement. They developed their creativity, thinking skills and showed confidence when presenting their ideas.
On Wednesday morning, the students presented their dances to the School community. It was a wonderful concert which firmly embedded our values of Creativity, Compassion and Courage. After the concert, the students were buzzing with excitement; their reflections are a testament to this wonderful program.
“I loved how much effort we put into ‘Roar’ because it is a very hard dance but I knew we could do it. The dance concert was brilliant!” – Tilly
“It was fun and I felt proud of myself. The colour of my dress was bronze and I had a bronze scrunchy.” – Grace
“I really liked Mrs Liddy’s girls’ lion dance because I liked their costumes and they looked cute.” – Neela
“I really liked ‘Greased Lightning’ and the partner dances in the light dance.” – April
“I like Mrs Davies’ class because it was really cool for Kirsty to make it from a book.” – Millie
“It was fun being in the dark when we did our partner dances during the light dance.” – Leila
“We loved our costumes because they had all the colours of the rainbow and matched the book ‘My many coloured days’.” – Chloe
“I liked being a lion. We had to be cheeky, dance around and pretend to pull each other’s tails.” – Christine
“I enjoyed it when we had to dance together. My partner was Sophia. It was hard because we had to move backwards and forwards.” – Alexandra
“The Finale dance was called ‘Star Fish’. It was fun and all the children in the Reception and Year 1 classes were on the stage.” – Willow
“We loved learning dance with Kirsty and we love dancing!” – Georgia
Louise Davies
Reception and Year 1 Coordinator
Casual clothes day for Years 7 – 12
Tuesday 26 September will be dedicated to fundraising for Selwyn and Kilburn’s House Charities.
Selwyn’s charity is The Smith Family and Kilburn’s is The Cancer Council.
Next Tuesday, girls in the Middle and Senior Schools are welcome to come dressed in casual clothes and bring a gold coin donation. Please note, this applies to girls in Years 7 – 12 only.
The Year 10 Selwyn girls will be selling pancakes for $2 each with various toppings at the fixed BBQ near the tennis courts.
The Year 10 Kilburn girls will be selling smoothie cups made from mixed berries with the option of a homemade granola topping from the Food Tech deck at lunch time on Tuesday.
Please bring along some gold coins and support the Year 10 girls and the House Charities.
Sarah Richards
Community Service Captain
Vacation Care
Our next instalment of Vacation Care is almost here. We have two weeks of activities guaranteed to keep the children busy and active through the break. With a total of six excursions/incursions, there is plenty of fun to be had.
Some of our home-based days will include personalised bag making, planting our own flowers and our Pirate Party is a must-attend event!
Other activities include the movies at Semaphore with lunch on the foreshore, Little Legends cooking classes and Imagination Kidz Play Café.
Read the full October Vacation Care program here
In recent times, Vacation Care has booked out very quickly as places are limited, so please click here to secure your booking now!
St Peter’s Girls’ School Community Golf Day
Hosted by the St Peter’s Girls’ Old Scholars’ Association
Mount Osmond Golf Club | 60 Mount Osmond Road | Mount Osmond
Stableford Competition | 18-hole round | Multi-tee start 9am
Golf and Lunch: $75
Golf and Lunch (Mount Osmond Golf Club Members): $60
Lunch only: $20
Lunch at 1pm includes a selection of baguettes, wraps, dessert, tea and coffee. Beverages may be purchased from the bar.
Great fun with prizes to be won!
Book via www.trybooking.com/SAVM or contact Megan McCormack on 8334 2239.
Garage Sale Trail at St Peter’s Girls’ School
What: The City of Burnside Garage Sale Trail and St Peter’s Girls will be hosting stalls
Where: St Peter’s Girls’ School car park
When: Sunday 22 October 2017
Time: 8am – 2pm
Why: Are you looking for a FREE, fun and social way to fundraise for your community group, House Charity, sports team or Cambodia Trip and engage with our School community?
St Peter’s Girls’ School has registered a ‘Group Sale’ – to put your sale on the Garage Sale Trail, visit the website and register with our St Peter’s Girls’ Group Sale.
https://www.garagesaletrail.com.au/group-sale/st-peters-girls-community
Any questions, please don’t hesitate to visit us in the Community Relations Office, or contact Melissa Westgate via mwestgate@stpetergirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2244.
Code Camp at St Peter’s Girls’ School
St Peter’s Girls’ School will be hosting Code Camp Spark and Code Camp Ignite for students in Years 2 – 6 from 4 – 6 October, 9am – 3.30pm. The cost is $350 for three days.
Code Camp Information Flyer
Visit the Code Camp website for more information
Visit the St Peter’s Girls’ School booking page
Summer Uniform Check for Term 4
As the winter terms draw to an end, it’s time to get out those summer uniforms to see if they still fit and are in order. The School Shop will be open during the second week of the holidays on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 October from 9am – 4pm.
Sports News
All students are once again reminded to check notice boards for team selections and other relevant information pertaining to their sport. If you have any news items or sporting success stories please email them to nfuller@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
Congratulations to Keeley Fahey (Year 8) who has competed in Bendigo at the National Clubs Championship Level 6 Open Women’s Event for trampolining.
Bethany Cross, Dominique Rigby and Taylah Simpson (all Year 11) head to Brisbane this week to represent an IGSSA select Soccer team to compete at the tri-state games involving teams from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
Charlotte White (Year 10), Anna White (Year 8) and Georgina Keough (Year 8) are all travelling to Queensland to compete at the National Volleyball Championships.
JUNIOR BASKETBALL
Wednesday 13 September
Year 6 White – Saints 35 drew with Seymour Green 35
Year 6 White played extremely well against Seymour Green. The teams were evenly matched and Saints played very well in both offence and defence, stopping their key players from scoring, and creating lots of turnovers which they converted to scores. The girls held a determined Seymour out in the last minute preventing them from scoring to finish with a draw. – Sarah Matheson (Student Coach)
Year 5 – Saints 21 defeated Wilderness 14
Another great performance by the girls in their second to last game. They were able to improve both their passing and defending in order to beat Wilderness. A special mention to Charlotte Norman for her outstanding defence and Sienna Huxtable for her accurate shooting. – Josephine Dal Pra (Coach)
JUNIOR NETBALL
Wednesday 13 September
Year 3/4 – Saints 2 defeated by Walford 11
The girls tried really hard but unfortunately Walford proved to be a tough opponent. Saints had some great passages of play and were determined throughout the match, demonstrating great team work and improved skills. – Karen Braund (Coach)
JUNIOR SOCCER
Friday 15 September
Year 6 – Saints 3 defeated Seymour 0
A great final game for the girls with a convincing win over a good side. Both teams had over 12 players each so instead of playing 7v7, we had a 10v10 game which suited both as the girls got much more game time. We defended well and our goalkeepers didn’t have much to do for most of the game as our attackers didn’t stop pressuring the opposition goal. Very happy with our last result and fantastic work from all the girls. – Vincent Talladira (Coach)
Year 5 – Saints 8 defeated Pembroke White 1
Great offensive play from the girls. They left the opposition without the ball on many occasions. Florence Russell scored an amazing seven goals, showing her experience of playing at club, and Lysiane Franchi scored the other goal. The opposition had one counter catching us out of position for their goal. Apart from that, we dominated the game with great teamwork and enthusiasm. – Charlie Capogreco (Coach)
Year 3/4 – Saints 1 drew with Loreto 1
Our focus this week was bringing the ball down the wings and crossing the ball into a free player in the middle but many of our kicks coming out of defence including strong goalie kick-outs were all sailing out of bounds. Anna Venning’s first goal was disallowed, deemed too high, then she managed to sneak a second opportunity past Loreto’s goal keeper giving us the lead.
In the second half, the girls gave their possession more thought and the game was fierce with a number of players having big collisions with opponents. Lucy Tulloch was one of these players who crashed into an opposition player and bounced back up showing great resilience. Lucy, along with Iszabella Lochowiak, played their best games of the season. They each won the ball around the ground, ran hard and passed the ball well to their team mates. Grace Stevens played another fantastic game in goals and only let through a controversial penalty for a pass back (a rule she was unaware of). A highlight that stood out to all the girls was Nicole Wang’s header which was the first for any girl in our team this season. Her massive Kilburn afro wig she was still sporting from her Kilburn Spirit Week celebration must have given her extra confidence. The girls have one final match next week in what has been an excellent season. – Mark Routley (Coach)